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After the PRISM leak,
you probably want to know exactly what the NSA has on file about you.
And here's some good news amid all the
are-we-living-in-a-surveillance-state hand-wringing: Civil rights
advocate Jonathan Corbett put together a website called My NSA Records that wants to help you understand what your records looks like.

My NSA Records gives you two options: You can ask to retrieve your
NSA records by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which
My NSA Records will print and mail for you, free of charge. Or you can
ask that your NSA records are deleted by filing a Motion to Quash (the
most hilariously-named motion) with the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

My NSA Records already sent out over 500 requests to the FOIA, but
Corbett hit a roadblock when he tried to send requests to quash to the
FISC. This is because there is no public address listed for the FISC,
despite the fact that it's a government court. Corbett discovered that
he had to call a number to get the address for the court. But when he
called a number, according to his blog post, "things got weirder."

"I left a message, which was returned yesterday by a pleasant
sounding woman who told me to reach a woman named Christine Gunning,"
Corbett explains in his blog.
"I asked if this woman was a representative of the clerk, and I was
told, ‘No.' Well then who is she? ‘She works for the Department of
Justice.'"

"The idea that there is a court in the United States of America that
has not even a mailing address is absolutely astounding. But upon
further research, "the FISC" appears not to actually exist, at least as a
physical court room. The idea that in order to reach the judicial
branch, I must ask the executive branch to process my request is
antithetical to the separation of powers required by our constitution.
But, this whole deal – the spying, the secret courts, the lying to us to
‘protect us' – it's all antithetical to our values, isn't it?"

While Corbett had trouble trying to locate the mailing address, he
eventually found it. "I do have an address for filing with the FISC at
this time, and the first FISC motions will be mailed today," he told us.
He published the address to the same blog post yesterday. If you just
want to mail Ms. Gunning your FISC petition without going through the My
NSA Records website, this is where you should send it (and make it out
to Ms. Gunning):

2 Constitution Sq. 145 N St. NE, Ste. 2W-115 Washington, DC 20530

Getting the address is an important step, though Corbett wasn't
optimistic when asked if these requests might get stonewalled.
"Definitely. I don't think the NSA is giving up or deleting records
without a fight, and I don't think the FISC will be terribly
sympathetic. The idea, however, is not for people to expect their
request to be handed to them in a few weeks, but rather it's more of a
protest. Having the NSA and FISC feel that they are starting to be held
accountable by the public is so important. They wouldn't have been
able to do the things that they did in the light of day, and these
requests, whether accepted or rejected, send a powerful message: We are watching you."

Corbett said that the FOIA generally has a processing time of one
month, but it can take longer, and that "the agency has a significant
amount of leeway." So you probably shouldn't hold your breath about
getting a response from these requests in anything remotely resembling a
timely manner. Though, as Corbett noted, even if you don't get the NSA
records you want, at least you're showing the government that this
surveillance program worries you.

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